In trying to locate info on my husbands surname Dirato, it appears that the surname appeared only AFTER they emmigrated to the US in the late 1880's and could have been DiDato, travel records show the name as Didato. There is record in 1 baby book of his older brother of a " grandfather DiDato" but nothing else in any other family records. The entry was made by a woman that would not likely make any kind of spelling error and was highly educated so it's possible the original name was DiDato and changed with subsequent family members coming to the US. Being that the area they came from, Mezzojusso was more farming, it is likely they didnt read or write and when you pronounce DiDato.. it could come out sounding like Dirato at an disembarkation station or a non italian speaking person. Ive also seen a possible spelling of DeDato. I am looking for anyone with possible info on the names Dirato, DiDato, DeDato and Barccia all originating from the Mezzojusso area of Sicily. Ive hit a stone wall at Name: Nicolo dirato Birth: 16 Dec 1851 in Palermo, Palermo, Sicilia, Italy Death: 17 Feb 1943

luciaisabella wrote:In trying to locate info on my husbands surname Dirato, it appears that the surname appeared only AFTER they emmigrated to the US in the late 1880's and could have been DiDato, travel records show the name as Didato. There is record in 1 baby book of his older brother of a " grandfather DiDato" but nothing else in any other family records. The entry was made by a woman that would not likely make any kind of spelling error and was highly educated so it's possible the original name was DiDato and changed with subsequent family members coming to the US. Being that the area they came from, Mezzojusso was more farming, it is likely they didnt read or write and when you pronounce DiDato.. it could come out sounding like Dirato at an disembarkation station or a non italian speaking person. Ive also seen a possible spelling of DeDato. I am looking for anyone with possible info on the names Dirato, DiDato, DeDato and Barccia all originating from the Mezzojusso area of Sicily. Ive hit a stone wall at Name: Nicolo dirato Birth: 16 Dec 1851 in Palermo, Palermo, Sicilia, Italy Death: 17 Feb 1943

Taking a look at the Mezzojuso records available online (unfortunately, they are scarce and cover only some records from 1866-1901)... it appears that the spelling of the name is DIDATO.Here is the link to the Mezzojuso records onlinehttps://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/T ... %3D2051639